Dolan Dual pimped up

ugo.santalucia
ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
edited July 2020 in Your road bikes
I've had this frame for just over 3 years and done about 15K miles on it. It's the perfect frame, great for long rides, great for winter rides and not too shabby to climb small and big hills.
Lately, haven't done any Audax for obvious reasons, so I've pimped it up a bit, to shed some weight and make it a tad faster... and doesn't look too shabby either, for a lower mid range bike with mix and match components




left the forum March 2023
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Comments

  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,702
    Looking good, other than the angle of the QR levers, which is a crime against decency...
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    whyamihere said:

    Looking good, other than the angle of the QR levers, which is a crime against decency...

    I always ride solo, so it's not a big issue. I find it easier to undo them if they are facing down, rather than up
    left the forum March 2023
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    Looking good, Ugo.

    QR levers - that's the only way the rear will close on my Donhou. The dropouts are hooded (is that a good word to describe it?)
    Ben

    Bikes: Donhou DSS4 Custom | Condor Italia RC | Gios Megalite | Dolan Preffisio | Giant Bowery '76
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ben_h_ppcc/
    Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143173475@N05/
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    edited July 2020
    It's a bit of a wannabe a racer this thing of the QR lever direction... this modern external cam QR can be quite hard to undo, especially if the angle is inconvenient
    left the forum March 2023
  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,702
    My tongue was firmly in my cheek for the comment. I've had bikes that have required all kinds of lever positions to make them usable.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    whyamihere said:

    My tongue was firmly in my cheek for the comment. I've had bikes that have required all kinds of lever positions to make them usable.

    And in these days of social distancing, they could act as a deterrent for people to stay well clear of my bike... :D

    Well, they have to catch me first... B)
    left the forum March 2023
  • Harry182
    Harry182 Posts: 1,169
    That's a nice looking bike but does it come with disc brakes? ;)
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    Harry182 said:

    That's a nice looking bike but does it come with disc brakes? ;)

    Luckily, it doesn't... B)
    left the forum March 2023
  • darrell1967
    darrell1967 Posts: 470
    edited July 2020
    Nice looking bike.
    I had a lovely carbon Dolan that I bought as a frame off eBay after too many Stellas.
  • darrell1967
    darrell1967 Posts: 470

  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    That paintwork is quite something... wouldn't look out of place on a Harley Davidson... :)
    left the forum March 2023
  • darrell1967
    darrell1967 Posts: 470
    ugo.santalucia said:

    That paintwork is quite something... wouldn't look out of place on a Harley Davidson... :)

    It’s a tad odd isn’t it. It grew on me!
    I sold it to my brother about 15 months ago.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    I quite like it too
    left the forum March 2023
  • darrell1967
    darrell1967 Posts: 470
    ugo.santalucia said:

    I quite like it too

    Everybody that saw it first said “WTF is that paint job” and then after a very short while said what you said.
    The frame had a gloss carbon finish as well.

    I’ll put up another couple of photos if you like.
  • darrell1967
    darrell1967 Posts: 470

  • wilkij1975
    wilkij1975 Posts: 532
    ugo.santalucia said:

    I've had this frame for just over 3 years and done about 15K miles on it. It's the perfect frame, great for long rides, great for winter rides and not too shabby to climb small and big hills.
    Lately, haven't done any Audax for obvious reasons, so I've pimped it up a bit, to shed some weight and make it a tad faster... and doesn't look too shabby either, for a lower mid range bike with mix and match components




    Looks nice that.

    How are the tyres? Was looking at getting some Corsa Control's but have read they can be puncture magnets.
    Carbon 456
  • pippi_langsamer-2
    pippi_langsamer-2 Posts: 1,470
    Nice. What's the double-clamped seatpost for? Have you had slippage issues, or is it just "belt-n-braces"?

    (Purely aesthetic, the silver steerer tube spacers bug me- would look much better black, and could lose a few grams by lobbing a bit of excess off of the top...)
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    wilkij1975 said:

    ugo.santalucia said:

    I've had this frame for just over 3 years and done about 15K miles on it. It's the perfect frame, great for long rides, great for winter rides and not too shabby to climb small and big hills.
    Lately, haven't done any Audax for obvious reasons, so I've pimped it up a bit, to shed some weight and make it a tad faster... and doesn't look too shabby either, for a lower mid range bike with mix and match components




    Looks nice that.

    How are the tyres? Was looking at getting some Corsa Control's but have read they can be puncture magnets.
    I love them, but they are summer tyres, I wouldn't use them on wet and dirty roads
    left the forum March 2023
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    pippi_langsamer-2 said:

    Nice. What's the double-clamped seatpost for? Have you had slippage issues, or is it just "belt-n-braces"?

    (Purely aesthetic, the silver steerer tube spacers bug me- would look much better black, and could lose a few grams by lobbing a bit of excess off of the top...)

    It came with the bike, it's quite useful, as it avoids slippage without the need to overtighten the collar.

    The excess top needs to be trimmed, I just need to make sure I can do an Audax with the current setup... previously all the spacers were at the bottom. I've done 90 km with no ill effects, so I suppose I can do 200
    left the forum March 2023
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    Cut the steerer to length and wrapped some new tape... I got envy seeing another bike on this forum, so I got the black and orange one to match the bike theme... I think it's the first time I do a decent job of wrapping tape...

    left the forum March 2023
  • dj58
    dj58 Posts: 2,217
    edited July 2020
    It appears that Dolan have stopped offering this bike/F&F, it is not on their website anymore.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    dj58 said:

    It appears that Dolan have stopped offering this bike/F&F, it is not on their website anymore.

    Yeah... it was a popular choice for winter/audax duties, but now this market is obsessed with disc brakes and large tyres.
    If I was to replace it, I wouldn't know what to buy... I'd probably be forced to get something more aggressive and more expensive. They don't even do the Preffisio anymore, which was the best bang for buck road bike out there, in my opinion
    left the forum March 2023
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    ugo.santalucia said:

    dj58 said:

    It appears that Dolan have stopped offering this bike/F&F, it is not on their website anymore.

    Yeah... it was a popular choice for winter/audax duties, but now this market is obsessed with disc brakes and large tyres.
    If I was to replace it, I wouldn't know what to buy... I'd probably be forced to get something more aggressive and more expensive. They don't even do the Preffisio anymore, which was the best bang for buck road bike out there, in my opinion
    Flog the frame set and hang the parts off an equilibrium.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    darkhairedlord said:

    ugo.santalucia said:

    dj58 said:

    It appears that Dolan have stopped offering this bike/F&F, it is not on their website anymore.

    Yeah... it was a popular choice for winter/audax duties, but now this market is obsessed with disc brakes and large tyres.
    If I was to replace it, I wouldn't know what to buy... I'd probably be forced to get something more aggressive and more expensive. They don't even do the Preffisio anymore, which was the best bang for buck road bike out there, in my opinion
    Flog the frame set and hang the parts off an equilibrium.
    Not going back to a glorified touring bike made of iron. The Dual has a relaxed geometry but it's not a dull racer
    left the forum March 2023
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    I thought you were a steel stalwart
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    I've had steel bikes, but never thought there is anything special about steel. A nice, light steel bike made with Columbus Spirit tubing would be a thing of beauty, but the Equilibrium is just a generic lump of iron.

    I've occasionally ranted against carbon frames, but mainly because they often come with solutions which are unhelpful to the home mechanic (press fit BBs, stupid crown race free forks, internal cabling, odd standards)...
    left the forum March 2023
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    Invested some Ebay proceedings in a new R8000 chainset to replace the ageing CX50 one... maybe next spring I will upgrade the rest of the groupset to R8000... depending on how things go at work


    left the forum March 2023
  • ledeev
    ledeev Posts: 208
    ugo.santalucia said:

    wilkij1975 said:

    ugo.santalucia said:

    I've had this frame for just over 3 years and done about 15K miles on it. It's the perfect frame, great for long rides, great for winter rides and not too shabby to climb small and big hills.
    Lately, haven't done any Audax for obvious reasons, so I've pimped it up a bit, to shed some weight and make it a tad faster... and doesn't look too shabby either, for a lower mid range bike with mix and match components




    Looks nice that.

    How are the tyres? Was looking at getting some Corsa Control's but have read they can be puncture magnets.
    I love them, but they are summer tyres, I wouldn't use them on wet and dirty roads
    What is your tyre choice for wet and dirty roads?
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    Depends what's on offer... either Schwalbe Durano or VIttoria Rubino PRO
    left the forum March 2023
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    understated frame that, Ugo. its a real jack of all trades according to one of my clubmates. Terry Dolan knows how to build a frame...

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